Solar 101: Grasping the Basics

If harnessing the sun’s rays to generate heat for pools is nothing new, then why are so few builders embracing it?

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Mention solar pool heating panels, and the image that typically
comes to mind is that of a roof-mounted system. But as with
anything, there are alternatives.

In years past, when John Kennedy sold solar
pool heating systems, he often would team up with a local
installation company.

Back then, the owner of Elite-Weiler Pools, a Pool & Spa News
Top Builder in Sarasota, Fla., simply consulted
a price list, put together a package, and then sent a purchase
order to his solar partner.

Today, Kennedy is a certified solar contractor who owns and
operates Elite Solar Services. The classification allows him to
install solar electric (photovoltaic) pool heating systems, as well
as solar domestic and commercial hot water units.

“In Florida, it gives you an 11-month-a-year swim
season,” he says of the typically roof-mounted pool heating
devices. “Plus it saves the consumer money, and it’s
good for the environment. There are a number of applications for it
— it’s just a matter of getting it explained and
finding the space.”

Indeed, a small but growing number of pool contractors have caught
the solar wave in recent years, albeit to varying degrees. Some
have incorporated full-fledged solar divisions, while others have
begun selling the systems and subcontracting or outsourcing the
installation and service.

Still, Kennedy concedes it’s a business that shouldn’t
be entered into lightly: “It’s not something you can
just stick your toe into, because of the nature of the work,”
he says. “You need a crew specialized and trained to do it
— you can’t decide one day that the tile setters are
suddenly going to be your solar setters on the roof.”

At a time when new pool construction remains stagnant throughout
much of the country, solar installation could present a bright spot
for contractors. Here, experts discuss some of the basics while
dispelling myths and misconceptions about the
business.

Opportunities

Some believe the primary opposition to solar stems from a lack of
understanding or knowledge about the technology and how it works;
or from a general reluctance to change.

“It’s not complex — it’s simply circulating
pool water through a series of panels on a roof or structure to
heat it up,” says Brian Tymann, director of Sunstream USA, a
division of J. Tortorella Custom Gunite Pools , a Pool & Spa News Top Builder in Southampton, N.Y.

“So it’s not much different, conceptually, than leaving
a garden hose on the lawn in the sun, when you then spray it and
it’s boiling hot. If you know your basic plumbing,
it’ll work.”

Pool builders typically are the first to be contacted by homeowners
interested in solar panel systems, explains Reuben Clark, president
of Consolidated Manufacturing International in Raleigh, N.C.

“That file cabinet full of customers’ names is just
paper waiting to be turned into money,” Clark says.
“For builders, there’s a higher probability of closing
the sale because they already have that relationship [with the
consumer].”

In fact, CMI now produces passive solar panel heating systems under
the Thermocraft name from its Ogden, Utah, manufacturing plant. The
panels are protected in a corrugated box, and all installation
hardware is packaged and included with each set of panels, Clark
says.

“We’re trying to break down every barrier to
market,” he adds. “I think it’ll be a real good
thing for the industry. There’s no turning back from the
environment in our society now of going green. Besides, it’s
a nice margin on those products — why would a builder want to
give away that profit?”

There’s yet another incentive pool builders may consider.
Though the need for solar heating equipment is universal, says Dale
Gulden, CEO of Solar Direct in Bradenton, Fla., coverage of the
marketplace is lacking. That has created a number of vacuums
nationwide for areas serviced by solar dealers.

Licensing/permitting

Licensing requirements for solar installation tend to vary by
state, and then sometimes by city or county. It’s a lot like
pool building in that respect.

But by and large there isn’t usually a whole lot extra
required of pool builders who wish to enter the solar realm.

In Florida, for example, a Certified Pool Contractor is permitted
to install solar systems in a residential setting, Kennedy
says.

Elsewhere, solar still resembles the Wild West in some ways, Tymann
says.

“Few municipalities have addressed it,” he says,
“so in our area there are no particular licenses needed to
install solar pool heating.

“Some places do require a permit for the installation, but
most don’t,” he adds. “And for those that do,
it’s just a general contractors’ license. There’s
nothing specific to it because it doesn’t fall into the
category of home heating.”

On the roof

Another main cause of pool contractors’ resistance to solar
systems may be the elevated surface. For crews that are used to
working on the ground, a rooftop can be an uneasy place, experts
say.

But it isn’t always climbing up that gives contractors pause,
adds Michael McVan, national sales manager at Jetline Solar in
Kearny, N.J.

“Oftentimes they’re afraid to make penetrations on the
roof,” he says, “because of liability concerns. And if
you don’t seal it correctly, the home can get rainwater
inside. So those would be the biggest potential
snafus.”

“For example, when there’s more than one story, our
guys wear harnesses and tie themselves off,” Gulden
says. “So if they happen to fall off, they’re just
dangling from the roof instead of crashing to the
ground.”

In addition to safety, experts explain, it’s important to
know what to look for on a roof — how many collector panels
you can fit, how they will be situated, and whether and to what
degree the panels will be tilted to maximize Southern
exposure.

At Classic Pool & Patio in Indianapolis, the company uses
satellite imagery to map out a roof-mounted solar project ahead of
time, says service manager Stewart Dixon.

“We get onto [search engine] Bing, pull up the address and
chart it based on that,” Dixon says. “Homeowners can
see how much of the roof area is being used, where it’s going
— they’re pretty impressed with it,
actually.”

Training

There are a number of outlets for training on solar roof
installations. For Brett Marshall at Swan Solar, it comes from his
manufacturer, SunPower.

Employees at the Lake Forest, Calif.-based firm, a division of
Pool & Spa News Top Builder Swan Pools , receive schooling at various levels
— associate, intermediate and advanced — depending on
their role in the project’s sale, design, engineering or
installation.

“If a manufacturer is reputable and they want you to install
it correctly,” he says, “they should train
you.”

Kennedy sent his installation personnel to a training course at the
Florida Solar Energy Center, widely considered one of the
region’s leading facilities for solar certification.

In addition to an initial curriculum that runs about $1,500, he
provides his employees with ongoing safety training through
FSEC.

“I have real good competent mechanics — guys that can
do anything,” he says. “But I’m not going to give
them a ladder and say, ‘Climb up there.’ We’re
penetrating peoples’ roofs, and we’re making electrical
and potable water connections. Some of that is well outside the
realm of typical pool building.”